Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS): India and Pakistan are being forced to patch up due to commercial and financial interests, feels critically acclaimed Pakistani novelist and translator Musharraf Ali Farooqi.

"Commercial and financial interests are forcing India and Pakistan to patch up. In the past such interests used to be miniscule but now the (commercial) changes are much bigger and the two countries are tying up because of that," said Farooqi at the second Kolkata Literary Meet here Wednesday.

Farooqi is a PEN award-winning translator of Urdu classics and has authored critically acclaimed translations such as "The Adventures of Amir Hamza" by Ghalib Lakhnavi and Abdullah Bilgrami, and Hoshruba.

His latest novel "Between Clay and Dust", was published in 2012 to critical acclaim and long-listed for the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize and DSC Prize 2012.

Farooqi felt in the past such tie-ups would not have had an influence as egos could have come in between.

"In the past instances were there where egos could have played a role but now different forces are bringing the countries together," said Farooqi.